Dead Sea dip: Swimmers endure salty agony to highlight disappearing wonder

By Oren Liebermann, CNN
3 minute read
Updated 5:15 AM EST, Wed November 16, 2016
Dead Sea swimmer
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Surviving a 'Dead Sea' swim
01:11 - Source: CNN

Story highlights

Group made first swim across the Dead Sea

They endured stinging salt to draw attention to the drying of the sea

Shrinking sea blamed on resource policies

Israel and Jordan have signed a deal to try to tackle the problem

Dead Sea, Israel CNN  — 

The swimmers pulled themselves from the water exhausted, their lycra swimsuits stiff from all the crystallized salt. The water had stung their eyes, burned their skin, and exposed cuts they never knew they had. But after seven hours in the water, just after the shadows started growing long again in the afternoon sun, they were finished.

The group of nearly 30 swimmers had become the first people ever to swim across the Dead Sea from Jordan to Israel, a nine-mile (15-kilometer) swim that had never been accomplished before because the water is so inhospitable to marathon swimming.

Dead Sea rapidly disappearing

“I can’t believe it. It’s such an emotional moment,” said record-breaking marathon swimmer Kim Chambers, wrapped in her native New Zealand flag.

“It was teamwork at its finest. This is what happens when you get 28 crazy people together who think it’s a good idea to swim across the Dead Sea.”

A rusty old dock lying atop a desert encrusted in salt. What used to be the shoreline of the Dead Sea now lies hundreds of feet from the waters edge.
A rusty old dock lying atop a desert encrusted in salt. What used to be the shoreline of the Dead Sea now lies hundreds of feet from the waters edge.
Bill Weir/CNN

Related article Is the Dead Sea dying?

Chambers and the group of swimmers, who came from all over the world, wanted to raise awareness of the rapidly dropping sea levels.

The world’s lowest and one of the saltiest bodies of water is in danger of becoming extinct as its level drops at the rate of approximately one meter (3.3 feet) per year, according to Gidon Bromberg, Israeli director of EcoPeace Middle East.

“That demise of the Dead Sea is not global climate change – it’s policies of the governments here in the region,” said Bromberg.

Most of the water of the Jordan River, which feeds the Dead Sea, is diverted to other uses, Bromberg said.

The southwestern coastline of the Dead Sea is in Israel. The sea also borders the West Bank and Jordan.
The southwestern coastline of the Dead Sea is in Israel. The sea also borders the West Bank and Jordan.
Bill Weir/CNN
An Israeli flag waves near the evaporation ponds of the Dead Sea, a series of shallow-water reservoirs that capture the runoff from the southern edge of the Dead Sea.
An Israeli flag waves near the evaporation ponds of the Dead Sea, a series of shallow-water reservoirs that capture the runoff from the southern edge of the Dead Sea.
Bill Weir/CNN
A visitor to the DMZ Medical Spa in southern Israel floats in the evaporation ponds of the Dead Sea.
A visitor to the DMZ Medical Spa in southern Israel floats in the evaporation ponds of the Dead Sea.
Bill Weir/CNN
A wary ibex peeks around the corner, surveying the "Wonder List" crew, near Israel's Ein Fasha Nature Reserve.
A wary ibex peeks around the corner, surveying the "Wonder List" crew, near Israel's Ein Fasha Nature Reserve.
Bill Weir/CNN
A lone ship navigates the still waters of the Dead Sea near Ein Fasha.
A lone ship navigates the still waters of the Dead Sea near Ein Fasha.
Bill Weir/CNN
Hundreds of houses and buildings fill a hillside outside the walls of the Old City of Jerusalem.
Hundreds of houses and buildings fill a hillside outside the walls of the Old City of Jerusalem.
Bill Weir/CNN
A Jewish boy bows his head in prayer in front of the Western Wall of Jerusalem.
A Jewish boy bows his head in prayer in front of the Western Wall of Jerusalem.
Bill Weir/CNN
Qasr al-Yahud, along the southern Jordan River near Jericho, West Bank, is believed by many to be the site where Jesus was baptized.
Qasr al-Yahud, along the southern Jordan River near Jericho, West Bank, is believed by many to be the site where Jesus was baptized.
Bill Weir/CNN
The "Wonder List" crew films an interview with a local artist, Sigalit Landau, near the evaporation ponds of the Dead Sea.
The "Wonder List" crew films an interview with a local artist, Sigalit Landau, near the evaporation ponds of the Dead Sea.
Philip Bloom/CNN
A rusty old dock lies atop a desert encrusted in salt. What used to be the shoreline of the Dead Sea now lies hundreds of feet from the water's edge.
A rusty old dock lies atop a desert encrusted in salt. What used to be the shoreline of the Dead Sea now lies hundreds of feet from the water's edge.
Bill Weir/CNN
A Jordanian family shares a cup of tea with the "Wonder List" crew at their farmhouse near Sharhabil Bin Hassneh EcoPark, Jordan.
A Jordanian family shares a cup of tea with the "Wonder List" crew at their farmhouse near Sharhabil Bin Hassneh EcoPark, Jordan.
Bill Weir/CNN
St. George's Monastery, carved into the side of a cliff near Jericho, stands alone at the bottom of Wadi Qelt, often associated with the biblical "valley of the shadow of death."
St. George's Monastery, carved into the side of a cliff near Jericho, stands alone at the bottom of Wadi Qelt, often associated with the biblical "valley of the shadow of death."
Bill Weir/CNN
The Madaba Map, a mosaic dating back to A.D. 542, adorns the floor of the Greek Orthodox Basilica of St. George in Madaba, Jordan. It depicts an ancient view of the Jordan River entering the Dead Sea.
The Madaba Map, a mosaic dating back to A.D. 542, adorns the floor of the Greek Orthodox Basilica of St. George in Madaba, Jordan. It depicts an ancient view of the Jordan River entering the Dead Sea.
Bill Weir/CNN
A painting of Jesus hangs above the altar at the Greek Orthodox Basilica of St. George in Madaba, Jordan.
A painting of Jesus hangs above the altar at the Greek Orthodox Basilica of St. George in Madaba, Jordan.
Bill Weir/CNN
A camel enjoys a bite of shrubbery near Madaba, Jordan.
A camel enjoys a bite of shrubbery near Madaba, Jordan.
Bill Weir/CNN
Fadhi, a Bedouin guide at Wadi Qelt, leads the "Wonder List" crew toward St. George's Monastery, near Jericho.
Fadhi, a Bedouin guide at Wadi Qelt, leads the "Wonder List" crew toward St. George's Monastery, near Jericho.
Bill Weir/CNN
Hundreds of birds flock above the cliffs of Wadi Mujib near the Dead Sea in Jordan.
Hundreds of birds flock above the cliffs of Wadi Mujib near the Dead Sea in Jordan.
Bill Weir/CNN
Wonder at the Dead Sea

The effect is to starve the Dead Sea of its only source of replenishment. The industry mining the sea for its minerals also promotes evaporation, according to Bromberg.

Canal plan to avert crisis

Last year, Israel and Jordan signed a deal on a $900 million plan to build a canal from the Red Sea to the Dead Sea.

The waterway, running approximately 124 miles between the two seas, would provide drinking water to the two countries while pumping water into the Dead Sea to stabilize its levels.

6) Sigalit Landau, Salt Crystal Bride Gown VI, 2014, Colour Print, 163 x 109 cm, Courtesy the artist and Marlborough Contemporary, London. Photo: Studio Sigalit Landau
6) Sigalit Landau, Salt Crystal Bride Gown VI, 2014, Colour Print, 163 x 109 cm, Courtesy the artist and Marlborough Contemporary, London. Photo: Studio Sigalit Landau
Courtesy Studio Sigalit Landau and Marlborough Contemporary

Related article Related: THIS rose from the Dead Sea

This summer, 17 companies offered bids to build the canal, which is expected to take four to five years to complete. When finished it will pump hundreds of millions of cubic meters of water per year into the Dead Sea.

‘Acid burning your eyeballs’

In the interim, the sea (which is actually an inland lake) is becoming saltier – something the swimmers couldn’t help but notice.

“One drop of this water and I can tell you from experience in the last 24 hours … It’s like acid burning your eyeballs,” said Chambers. “I had to take my contact lenses out so I couldn’t actually see shore when we came in.”

dead sea thumb 1
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The Dead Sea is dying
02:52 - Source: CNN

Chambers has completed marathon swims in Japan, America, Gibraltar, and Scotland among other places but this swim posed its own unique set of challenges.

The swimmers had to wear full face masks to protect their eyes and mouth but the masks leaked.

“We got water in our eyes, we were in pain. We’re chafed, but everyone just stuck together and kept an eye out for each other,” Chambers said.

“We all rallied around this single purpose, which was to draw attention to the Dead Sea, and it had to be something as flamboyant as this to get international attention.

“To be able to do something like this when you get unprecedented diplomatic support from both sides, to save this sea, which is why we’re all here today, it’s going to take a long time to process. This is so special.”